Michael Jackson pictured with a serpentine member of his menagerie in 1987 Photo: Getty Images
When Michael Jackson died a year ago he left behind three children, eight brothers and sisters and millions of bereft fans. He also left a zoo’s worth of exotic animals.
Perhaps it shouldn’t have come as a surprise – his first solo number one, after all, was Ben, an ode to a pet rat – but the media and fans alike were fascinated by the private zoo that the King of Pop created at his 2,600-acre Californian ranch, Neverland.
He gave the job to his well-respected vet, Martin Dinnes. ‘Michael told me that he didn’t care about making money from selling his animals, he just wanted me to make sure that they went to the best homes possible,’ Dinnes says.
‘So I took two years, from 2006 to 2008. Some were sold and some were given away but Michael approved of all the places they went.’
Not everybody agrees. Animal rights campaigners say many animals are living at substandard facilities, while some new owners criticise Jackson, whose estate has raked in $1 billion since his death, for making no provision to fund the lifestyles of his beloved pets.
One year after his death, we tracked down the animals of Neverland to see how they are adjusting to life in a world where animals do grow old.
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